I LOVE IT HERE!

Hi family!!!

So we just got to go to the temple and it's so cute!!!! It was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong! We had Elder C going through for the first time and Sister M who is from Malaysia, so that was really cool! And Mom!!! I did the [family] names!!!! So now they say Preston, UK on them! I'll send them home at some point, but I'm just excited! I got Sister Zimmerman and another sister to do them, so that was great!

So Abby is doing well in the Provo MTC! I got her general email on Monday, but I haven't read it yet because it's hard to find the time. But! Funny story! I actually got to talk to one of her best friends ever and take a picture with her! She sent it to Abby, so that was really cool!

So the way that they misspelled my name is they put Brosseau! I thought it was really funny, especially since I was the only missionary that had that problem! Everything here really is international, even the food! It's so great! It's funny though because Sister Zimmerman is super picky and I'm super not, so we talk about that a lot.

They don't actually [broadcast] devotionals from the Provo MTC, we just watch ones from a while ago! So we got to watch one on Sunday! It's called "the Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar and it was amazing! It just reaffirmed to me that my call is more for the people that I'm sharing the message with than for me! But we also get to watch our own devotionals, so that's really fun also! The President usually does them and they're super spiritual. 

Maddie and her MTC Companion

Hmm... The most memorable thing.... Well, last P day, we got to go to some of the stores and that was super fun! We also played lots and lots of soccer because everyone loves that here. And then on Thursday, we got to go into Preston and do a little church history tour! We went to the River Ribbles, which is where the first (LDS) baptisms in England happened, and we got to see the house where President Hinckley got the letter from his dad (It's owned by Muslims now though, so I bet they always wonder what a bunch of missionaries are doing in front of their house), and! We saw the obelisk in the town square that some of the missionaries preached in front of when they came here and this one little town where tons of people were baptized! I think it was called Downing or something? And we got to sing "Called to Serve" in this church that was so so old!

Another good moment for me was getting picked first for soccer!! I know, that's kinda silly, but the boys think that I'm good enough, so they picked me first!

The River Ribbles!

I also loved the devotional by Elder Bednar, he is so close to the Spirit! It was funny though because on Sunday, I found out when I got to the chapel that I was supposed to play the piano for sacrament, so that was funny!

Also, Mr. Keyes would be proud! They're really using my musical abilities here. We have little zone choirs and there are actually tons of elders that come! It's really cool to see how much they want to sing! But Elder Rex is the choir director and I'm the pianist! So the two Oremites! And it was so funny because we're learning "I Know that my Redeemer Lives" and I had to sing a little part because no one could get it. I said, "don't judge my voice" and after I did it, all the elders were like, "Yeah, don't judge me, I'm just professional!" It was cute, they're sweet guys.

Maddie's MTC District & the MTC President

Oh, there's this girl that Lizzy might know! Her name is Sister Staple and she did pageants in Springville, I think! And she reminds me exactly of Phoebe Shepherd, so I love her, she's great!

Oh!! And I got the letters from the Burtons!!! My district has been so jealous because I got tons of postcards and a letter from Katy and a letter from a sister here also! But I loved to hear from them, that was so fun!

The other thing that I love is our investigators!! We've really been figuring out how to teach by the Spirit, so it makes things really cool, the lessons are really spiritual! My MTC teachers are awesome! Brother Arjona is just the sweetest nicest guy, and Brother Gibbons is from Ireland and is a lot like Chris! He teases me a lot, but he also just laughs at me a lot because he can't understand how anyone can be so happy!

Maddie and another missionary from Orem!

I also got to meet with President Preston this week too and that was really special! He told me a little about the Donaldson's (Maddie's future mission president) and they sound wonderful! Also, he gave me the same advice that tons of people have been giving me. First, he asked about my smile and if I've always been this way and said that I should always smile because it brings people joy, but he also said that I need to be really careful that people don't care more about the messenger than the message. I'll just need to follow the Spirit and I'll be alright!

Another cool thing! As a district, we literally ran to the store today! And while we were there, this lady came up to me and asked me all sorts of questions about the church and what we believe! It was really cool! All because of my name tag. She asked about the temple, but also about whether the women get to choose who they marry or go to school. But! She knew of the Mormons because they're the really happy and carefree people! I feel bad though, I didn't have any paper with me, so I didn't get any info off of her or anything.

Love,

Sister Brousseau

Week #1: The England MTC

Hi!!!!!

First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your wonderful emails! Mom, I love the whole every day kind of thing! If that gets too hard and it's too busy, that's totally fine, I'd love to get long emails too, but it was great to just have emails of whenever you were thinking about me and to have lots to open! And Dad, the advice you shared was beautiful, I loved what you said about the MTC! And thank you for telling me about (my cousin) Taylor! I've been thinking about him and praying for him all week, I'm so excited for him!!!!

So I figured I'd start out by answering Mom's questions! I love it here! England is BEAUTIFUL and the accents are awesome and I LOVE the rain! We don't go outside much, but they're actually a lot more relaxed about that than the Provo MTC is! Oh! Zach/the Brousseau's! I met Sister Bradley on the first day and actually sat next to her on the plane ride to Manchester! She's super nice! 

So I had the opportunity of being in a trio! My two companions were Sister Mejean and Sister Zimmerman! Sister Mejean is from Lyon, France and I really love her a lot! I got to practice some French with her and my accent has improved like a zillion times because I spent 24/7 with her! Oh, and I even started to memorize the first vision in French, but I need the rest! Dad, could you send those scriptures to me? But anyways, she is so so sweet and full of the Spirit! Also, I don't know if this is French, but she has so so many facial expressions, it was really easy to get a good reaction from her! But! She's going to the Pheonix, Arizona mission! And she's had Visa problems, so she'll actually be serving in the Paris mission until her Visa comes! So she left yesterday and I am so sad..... It seems so crazy to me that she has already left and I hadn't even really told all of you about her! She'll be a lifelong friend though, I know I was supposed to meet her! And Sister Zimmerman! She's from Roy, Utah and she's really nice! She took debate in high school, so she's very eloquent. And she has a powerful testimony! It's just the two of us now, so it's kinda weird to wander around wondering where my other companion is!

My district is AWESOME! We have two elders from Utah, one from Germany, one from Columbia, one from Spain, and one from India! And my teachers have been from Spain, Germany, and Ireland! So I am surrounded by all different kinds of accents and personalities! It's so fun to learn about their cultures and I just really love all of them! There are some people with British accents here, but they're mostly just from all over! There are definitely tons of Utah missionaries though, so I'm not that unique.

I have mostly everything I need! I forgot socks, so I'll have to buy some of those, but other than that, I'm getting by! I actually got a couple of new name tags already!! They took care of the misspelled ones right away! But I'm keeping one of them because I just think it's funny!

My MTC president is President Preston, which is funny because this is the Preston MTC! He and his wife are very very British and they used to be the mission president for the Manchester mission! Super cool spiritual people, I love them! Oh! And Shaquille Walker, the track star from BYU (https://www.mormon.org/me/c58k) got to come and speak with us with his wife! They served in the Preston's mission, so that was super cool!

So one crazy thing, everyone loves football (soccer) here!  So I've been playing with the elders and my companion and I have a huge bruise on my thigh from blocking a ball! But I have the two Spanish elders in my district and Elder Calle came and told me that I was the best defender out of everyone that was playing, so that made me feel really good! :)

I have four people in my room now, we used to have five! The other companionship are the sister training leaders, so that's super fun!

Spiritual experiences! So we got to watch Elder Holland give a devotional and my favorite thing that he said was that if we're teaching by the Spirit, then Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost will testify of YOU as a missionary! I think that's so amazing! Mostly I've learned that I am truly a representative of Jesus Christ and I have a responsibility to teach people in the way that the Savior would teach them. Oh! And we had our first little "baptism!" Our investigator decided to be baptized, so that was really special! It was my MTC teacher, but I can promise that the Spirit in the lessons you teach at the MTC is very real!

We haven't been able to go to the temple because it's closed until next week, but it's beautiful! We've walked around the grounds. And! Elder Chilpagiri in my district from India will be going through for his first time with us, I'm so excited!!

My favorite part about the MTC is the Spirit that's here! I've had some hard days, but the teachers are amazing, they're so in tune! So it's really cool to see how they answer my prayers and how the Spirit can testify to me so much while we're here! I love it here so much!

I love you and miss you all!

-Sister Brousseau

Oh, and this is the address for sending packages while I'm in the field!

51 Spylaw Road
Edinburgh
Scotland EH10 5BP
United Kingdom

Saying Farewell

 It was a rough day yesterday! We stayed up most of the night, talking and packing; but mostly talking about missions, home, family, and anything else that would distract us from the 9:35 a.m. scheduled departure. After she was finally packed, we loaded the car and took off for the Salt Lake City International Airport.

For those who don't know us, we're the Brousseau Family. Our daughter, Maddie was called to serve a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka the Mormon Church. She will serve at her own cost for a period of 18 months in the Scotland/Ireland mission. During this 18 month period she will spend most of her time teaching people about our beliefs and will invite all she meets to follow the example of Jesus Christ. She will also spend significant time offering service to those in need, regardless of their faith.

As you can imagine, the airport scene was emotional and tear-stained. We have a friend who accurately described sending a child on a mission as, "miserable joy." It is the best and worst moment you can experience as a parent because your instincts tell you to hold on tight and not to let them leave, but your own experiences and wisdom tell you that this is the best possible experience they can have at this juncture in their young lives.

Our own mission experience is something we have reflected on almost daily for the 25 years since our return home. The lessons learned, the experience gained, and the relationships formed have blessed our life ever since.

Here is part of Maddie's first email from the England Missionary Training Center in Preston, England:

"Hey Mom and Dad!

But I just wanted to email and say that I made it here safely and it is BEAUTIFUL! We'll get to walk around the grounds soon and I'm so excited, it's so pretty! 

Also! I just met with one of the MTC presidency and he told me that he can tell I'm super friendly and that I need to make sure that the elders in my district are being good and focused. He said that I'll need to use all of my assistant manager skills to help them. 

And! He said that I make him happy! So that means that some people will want to get baptized just because I ask them to, so I need to make sure I'm a mirror for Christ and let my testimony shine so that they will be baptized for the right reasons! 

So anyways, I'm safe and so happy! Also, funny story, they spelled my name on my tags, so I have to wear the misspelled one! I love you all! (Tell the others!)

Love, SISTER!!!!!!!! :):):) Brousseau"